The present invention relates to a fishing reel having a level wind mechanism mounted between side plates in from of a spool for winding a fishing line evenly on the spool.
Conventional fishing reels are typically provided with a reel body rotatably supporting a spool which may be switched between clutch-on state (power transmitting state) and clutch-off state (power cutoff state) by operating a clutch lever. The spool is switched to spool-free state (clutch-off state) by operating the clutch lever. In the spool-free state, anglers may perform a casting operation to cast a fishing line (fishing device) to any desired position. Subsequently, in response to a rotation operation of the handle, the spool may automatically return to the clutch-on state.
The level wind mechanism includes a guide body provided with a line guide which can reciprocate in the right and left direction during the rotation operation of the handle, whereby the fishing line held by the line guide can be evenly wound via the line guide on the spool.
It is desired to provide a fishing reel capable of unwinding a fishing line with reduced resistance in order to achieve a greater casting distance and greater falling velocity of a fishing device (shorter period of time to reach the bottom of fishing location). It is also desired to wind a fishing line on a spool evenly to avoid release of fishing line with high resistance or tangled fishing line due to uneven winding of the fishing line.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication H01-165329 (the “'329 Publication”) discloses a fishing reel designed to meet the above demands. The fishing reel as described in the '329 Publication is provided with a pillar configured to be movable up and down for holding a fishing line. The upward movement of the pillar in unwinding a fishing line can cause the guide resistance to decrease, whereas the downward movement in winding the fishing line can cause the pillar to come into contact with the fishing line for guiding thereby accurately guiding the fishing line to a desired position.
Although the fishing reel of the '329 Publication may decrease guide resistance by moving the pillar up and down in unwinding the fishing line, the fishing reel tends to cause the fishing line to be entangled in unwinding the fishing line, the fishing line unwound from the spool tends to be loose in the vertical direction by centrifugal force, thereby being prone to tangled fishing line.
Additionally, in winding up the fishing line, the fishing line tends to jam at the frame or the edge portion of the guide having V-shape in plan view and/or get stuck with the horizontal edges of the guide.